Toy railroad

ABSTRACT

A track system for toys including baseplate means, upper plate means arranged above and in spaced relationship to the baseplate means and provided with at least two grooves each being closed in itself so as to form a closed track adapted to receive follower means of toys. The tracks have at least one section in common with each other. The driving power transmitting means located between the baseplate means and the upper plate means and respectively arranged in alignment with the tracks pertain to different tracks engaging each other at common sections of the tracks. Control means are provided at said common sections and are operable selectively to move from a first position into a second position and vice versa to control the communication from the respective common section to the respective desired adjacent track in the direction of movement of the respective driving power transmitting means pertaining to the respective adjacent tracks. Driving means are drivingly connected to the driving power transmitting means pertaining to at least one of the tracks.

United States Patent Primary Examiner- Antonio F. Guida [72] inventor Max Ernst Loherngrinstrasse I4, 85 Nuremberg, Assistant Examiner Robert F. Cutting Germany A1t0rney- Walter Becker ABSTRACT: A track system for toys including baseplate Vy n n 7N o d N m l n mm Ha AFP iii.

means, upper plate means arranged above and in spaced relationship to the baseplate means and provided with at least two grooves each being closed in itself so as to form a closed track adapted to receive follower means of toys. The tracks have at least one section in common with each other. The driving power transmitting means located between the baseplate means and the upper plate means and respectively arranged in alignment with the tracks pertain to different tracks engaging each other at common sections of the tracks. Control means are provided at said common sections and are operable selectively to move from a first position into a second position and vice versa to control the communication from the respective common section to the respective desired adjacent track in the direction of movement of the respective driving power transmitting means pertaining to the respective adjacent 54 TOY RAILROAD [511 lnt.Cl................

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1957 Northrop et tracks. Driving means are drivingly connected to the driving power transmitting means pertaining to at least one of the tracks.

PATENTEU JULZO I971 SHEET 1 OF 2 FIGJ FIG. 2

IN V EN TOR. 41 7ws/ TOY RAILROAD The present invention relates to a toy railroad, and more specifically, to a track therefor. In the copending application Ser. No. 706,091, filed Feb. 16, 1968, assigned to applicant, there has been described a track toy according to which toy vehicles without a drive which are provided with a pin extending below the track surface are driven by providing one or more closed guiding passages in the track path, which passage or passages are in the interior thereof provided with a likewise closed flexible driving body adapted by means of an electric motor and a stepdown transmission, and a gear meshing with the driving body to be moved in longitudinal direction. The guiding passages have their upper side provided with centrally located narrow guiding slots through which the pin on the respective vehicle extends into a guiding passage. The driving body provided in the guiding passage and. preferably consisting of an extended steel wire helix, thus will, by means of said follower pin take the toy vehicle along the thus formed track. By means of such an arrangement a greater number of different vehicles can move forward on a track. The electric motor provided for the drive of a track may be equipped with a control and reversing device so that it will also be possible to reverse the driving direction as well as to vary the driving speed of the vehicles of a track within wide limits. If two or more of such tracks are arranged one adjacent to the other, it is also possible to build up traffic games, as for instance, toy automobile racing tracks or other racing games.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a track toy which in spite of being very simple and highly reliable in operation will greatly appeal to the playing sense of a child.

It is another object of this invention-to provide a track toy which will permit to imitate the traffic picture of a city with circular traffic.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a toy as set forthin the preceding paragraph which will make it possible by operating switches to move a vehicle from a closed track to another track.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a cutout of a trackaccording to the invention with a driving unit, a coupling station ofJtwo driving bodies and a switch tongue, as seen from the t FIG. 2'is a transverse section along the line 11-11 of FIG, 1.

FIG. 3'is a perspective view of a control device for a switch tongue.

FIG. 4 shows a driveless gear for the circle traffic at a crossing with a straight and two rectangularly extending tracks.

FIGS. 58 diagrammatically illustrate from above, various embodiments of tracks while employing the features accordingto the present invention.

The-present invention concerns a track toy with two or more closed tracks and comprises guiding passages, the top surface of which is provided with a guiding slot. In these closed flexible driving bodies for driveless toy vehicles provided with a follower pin are displaceable in longitudinal direction. The invention is characterized primarily in that at one or more places of the track installation, the tracks are moved toward each other to such an extent that the guiding passages of these tracks move together over a distance, while the driving bodies ofthe two tracks within the common guiding passage section mesh with each other, and a pointed wedge-shaped cover member either before or after the meetingof the'two guiding passages forms a switch blade or switch tonguein such a way that said cover member is pivotable about a vertical axis and selectively covers or frees one or the other guiding slot.

The present inventionprovides a track-toy which, with only a single driving unit permits the building-up of an image of the traffic at a street section with circular traffic while by operating a switch, a vehicle may be directed to move from a closed track to any other track.

For purposes of imitating a track installation with right side traffic it will be sufficient to drive the driving motor in one direction only, and to provide the switch blades or switch tongues only at the exit side of the connecting portions of the driving tracks. If it is desired additionally to imitate a left-side traffic, the switch blades or tongues must be provided on both sides at the connecting portions of the driving tracks, in which instance also the direction of rotation of the driving motor must be reversed.

For varying the traveling speed, a control transformer as it is employed in connection with toy railroads may be employed for the operation of the motor. When using a battery instead of a motor, a suitable control device for the motor will be used. The switches may be so designed as to be operable manually or to be operable by remote control as is customary with electrical railroad installations. When larger installations are involved, it is advantageous, for purposes of operating the switch tongues to employ a suitably designed control panel.

As driving means, a pulled out steel wire helix or coil introduced into the corresponding guiding passage of the installation has proved particularly advantageous. The said steel wire helix is formed into a closed driving body after it has been introduced into said guiding passage, by means of a relatively short connecting member especially in the form ofa yoke provided with a holding cam. The driving unit is preferably formed by a small electric motor which through a transmission drives a coarse-toothed gear with inclined teeth which latter engage the steel wire helix at a suitable point of the installation and advance said steel wire helix.

In conformity with the present invention, the guiding passages of two tracks unite over a section of the tracks. At this point or area the driving bodies which preferably consist of a pulled out steel wire helix are arranged adjacent to each other and synchronize each other in this way while being able to move each other. Accordingly, it is not necessary to provide each driving body with a motor ofits own, so that it will suffice with a larger number of coupled driving bodies to drive only one of them by an electric motor.

According to a further feature of the present invention, at the crossing points of a track system, gears or gear rings produced, for instance, of any suitable synthetic material and having a sufficiently large diameter, are provided, which by means of relatively coarse outer teeth, especially inclined teeth, engage the straight or curved flexible driving bodies of the tracks'which come together at this particular point or area, said gears or gear rings taking over the function of the flexible driving bodies. To this end, it is merely necessary to provide the track cover above the pitch circle of the gears or gear rings with a guiding slot and furthermore to design as switch tongue the pointed wedge-shaped portion of the track cover on the outlet side-of the guiding passage of the steel wire helix and of the bed which receives the gear or gear ring. The switch tongue is so adjusted that the guiding slot is covered above the flexible driving body, and that the guiding slot is freed above the teeth of the gear or gear ring so that the toy vehicle with its pin is engaged by a tooth of this gear or gear ring and advanced on a circular path. From this circular path the toy vehicle can then be moved from one track into another track in conformity with the respective position of the switch. In this way it will be possible at the crossing points of the installation to form a circular traffic which will permit changing the tracks which at this area are adjacent to each other, in any desired manner.

Advantageously, the common drive of the installation is so arranged that at least one of the gears or gear rings is operatively connected to the driving unit. When employing a gear ring, the latter may be provided with inner teeth. The driving motor with the stepdown transmission can then, in a very favorable manner be arranged on the track within the free space of the gear ring while the last wheel of said stepdown transmission meshes with said inner teeth.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIGS. 1 and 2 show that for changing from one track to the other track within the track system formed by a baseplate l and partially detachable cover plate 2, 2', a gear ring 3 is rotatably mounted which by means of relatively coarse outer teeth 4 extends into the interior of a guiding passage 5 having located therein a pulled out steel wire helix 6. Above said helix 6 there is provided a guiding slot 7 for guiding a follower pin of the respective toy vehicle. A similar guiding slot 8 is also provided in the track cover 2, 2' above the pitch circle of the outer teeth 4 of the gear ring 3. The direction of movement of the steel wire helix 6 and the gear ring 3 are indicated by the arrows A and Al respectively.

The circular part 2' of the cover plate (a portion only being shown in FIG. 1) above the gear ring 3 has an electric motor 9 mounted on its top side. Connected to the shaft ofsaid electric motor 9, below the cover plate 2' is a pinion 10. In the space between the lower track portion 1 and the cover plate 2' there is furthermore provided a stepdown transmission comprising the interconnected gears 11 and I2 and an additional gear 13, gear 11 being in meshing engagement with the pinion 10. Gear 13 is drivingly connected to the gear 12 and to the inner teeth 14 of the gear ring 3. Gear ring 3 is centered by a downwardly extending flange 15 connected to the cover plate 2'. Cover plate 2', in its turn, is centered by means of three rectangular blocks 16 (one only being shown) which are connected to the bottom of the baseplate l of the track installation. These blocks 16 are preferably uniformly spaced from each other.

The pointed wedge-shaped member on the cover plate 2 forms the switch tongue 17 and is pivotable about a vertical pivot 18. A connecting rod is pivotally connected to a lever arm 19 which, in its turn,-is fixedly connected to the switch tongue 17. The connecting rod 20 has an adjusting knob 21. For purposes of securing a definite position of the switch tongue, a toggle lever arrangement 20' (see FIG. 3) may be connected to the connecting rod 20, said toggle lever arrangement 20' having two stable definite positions. If the lever arm 19 which similar to the switch tongue 17 is expediently made of synthetic material and is resilient, and if the adjusting stroke of the toggle lever system slightly exceeds the stroke of the switch tongue, it will be assured that in each of the two positions of the toggle lever, the switch tongue will resiliently engage the marginal area of the cover 2, 2.

FIG. 4 diagrammatically illustrates a crossing point where a straight track and two curved tracks meet. According to FIG. 3 the three tracks are illustrated each by a steel wire helix 22, 23, and 24 respectively. All three steel wire helixes 2224 are engaged by the teeth of a gear 25. When the elements shown in FIG. 4 turn in the direction of the arrows illustrated therein, a right-hand drive will result. At those areas where gear 25 and steel wire coils separate from each other, switch tongues 26, 27, and 28 are provided which, as mentioned above, permit a change from one track to another.

Gear 25 may be connected to a drive of its own, but, if desired, it may also be driven through the intervention of one or more of the steel wire helixes 2224.

The embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 5-8 will be self-explainable in view of the above description. They illustrate the various possibilities of the invention for building up toy track installations in which it is possible at the crossing points of tracks to bring about a circular traffic.

More specifically, according to the embodiment of FIG. 5, two inner and one common outer track 29, 30, and 31 respectively are driven by a common disc 32. Disc 32 may, in conformity with the illustration of FIG. 1, be formed by a gear ring which is driven through the intervention of inner teeth and a driving unit within the gear ring. The outer track 31 is at two points driven by the disc 32. By means of four switches 32a, 32b, 32c, and 32d it will be possible, in the manner described in connection with FIG. I, to change over from one track to another track.

According to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, one outer track and two inner tracks with crossing points are provided. At the crossing points, toothed discs 33 and 34 are provided, each having three switches, 33a, 33b, 33c, and 34a,

34b, 34c respectively. With this arrangement it will suffice driving one of the two discs 33 or 34.

The track system of FIG. 7 comprises one outer track and four inner tracks whereby a central and four outer crossing points are formed which comprise the central toothed disc 35 and the additional discs 36, 37, 38, and 39. All of said discs are in driving connection with the helixes of the individual tracks. As will be seen from the drawing, the central disc 35 has associated therewith four switches, while each of the outer discs 36-39 has associated therewith three switches. Also, in this instance, it will suffice to provide only the central disc 35 with a drive as is shown, for instance, in FIG. 1.

Finally, the embodiment of FIG. 8 comprises one outer track and two inner tracks. The outer track forms a loop 40 and is twice drivingly connected with the toothed driving disc 41 whereby at this point it is possible to change the tracks four times. At the upper crossing point there is provided a toothed disc 42 with three switches, said disc 42 not having a drive of its own.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular showing in the drawings, but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A track system for motorless toys which comprises: baseplate means, upper plate means arranged above and in spaced relationship to said baseplate means and provided with at least two grooves each being closed in itself so as to form a closed track adapted to receive follower means of toys, said tracks being so arranged with regard to each other as to have at least one section in common with each other, toy-connected mechanical driving power transmitting means located within grooves between said baseplate means and said upper plate means and respectively arranged in alignment with said tracks, the driving power transmitting means respectively pertaining to difi'erent tracks engaging each other at said common sections of said tracks, control means arranged tangentially collectively in junctures at said common sections and operable selectively to move from a first position into a second position and vice versa to control the communication from the respectively common section to the respective desired adjacent track in the direction of movement of the respective driving power transmitting means pertaining to the respective adjacent tracks, and driving means drivingly connected to the driving power transmitting means pertaining to at least one of said tracks.

2. A track system according to claim 1, in which the driving power transmitting means pertaining to different tracks mesh with each other collectively in junctures at the common section thereof, and in which one and the same driving means is drivingly connected to the driving power transmitting means sharing said common section.

3. A track system according to claim 2, in which said one and the same driving means is directly coupled to only one of said driving power transmitting means sharing said common section at intersection of said tracks.

4. A track system according to claim 3, in which the driving power transmitting means sharing a common track section respectively comprise coil spring means and rotatable gear means having teeth in continuous meshing engagement with said coil spring means, and in which said driving means is drivingly connected to one of said driving power transmitting means.

5. A track system according to claim 4, in which said control means is formed by a pivotably mounted wedge-shaped member operable selectively to cover the track section immediately adjacent the respective common section of two tracks and located where said common section in the direction of movement of said driving power transmitting means branches into the said two tracks.

6. A track system according to claim 4, in which said rotatable gear means includes a gear ring having outer teeth engaging said coil spring means. I

between and drivingly interconnecting said inner teeth and said electric motor. 

1. A track system for motorless toys which comprises: baseplate means, upper plate means arranged above and in spaced relationship to said baseplate means and provided with at least two grooves each being closed in itself so as to form a closed track adapted to receive follower means of toys, said tracks being so arranged with regard to each other as to have at least one section in common with each other, toy-connected mechanical driving power transmitting means located within grooves between said baseplate means and said upper plate means and respectively arranged in alignment with said tracks, the driving power transmitting means respectively pertaining to different tracks engaging each other at said common sections of said tracks, control means arranged tangentially collectively in junctures at said common sections and operable selectively to move from a first position into a second position and vice versa to control the communication from the respectively common section to the respective desired adjacent track in the direction of movement of the respective driving power transmitting means pertaining to the respective adjacent tracks, and driving means drivingly connected to the driving power transmitting means pertaining to at least one of said tracks.
 2. A track system according to claim 1, in which the driving power transmitting means pertaining to different tracks mesh with each other collectively in junctures at the common section thereof, and in which one and the same driving means is drivingly connected to the driving power transmitting means sharing said common section.
 3. A track system according to claim 2, in which said one and the same driving means is directly coupled to only one of said driving power transmitting means sharing said common section at intersection of said tracks.
 4. A track system according to claim 3, in which the driving power transmitting means sharing a common track section respectively comprise coil spring means and rotatable gear means having teeth in continuous meshing engagement with said coil spring means, and in which said driving means is drivingly connected to one of said driving power transmitting means.
 5. A track system according to claim 4, in which said control means is formed by a pivotably mounted wedge-shaped member operable selectively to cover the track section immediately adjacent the respective common section of two tracks and located where said common section in the direction of movement of said driving power transmitting means branches into the said two tracks.
 6. A track system according to claim 4, in which said rotatable gear means includes a gear ring having outer teeth engaging said coil spring means.
 7. A track system according to claim 6, in which said gear ring also has inner teeth, and which includes an electric motor and a stepdown transmission including gears interposed between and drivingly interconnecting said inner teeth and said electric motor. 